BSU’s annual soul food dinner
Photo courtesy of Managing Editor, Kendall Cruise
The layout of dinner tables on the sides of the room allowed ample space for attendees to utilize the red carpet and dance floor.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, the Black Student Union (BSU) held its annual soul food dinner in the MacVittie College Union’s ballroom. BSU is a cultural club that “…uses cultural, educational, and social activities” in the hopes of “[uniting] through the greater awareness of the cultures of the African Diaspora.” Over the years, their dinners have hosted a myriad of themes, with this year’s being “Soul Train,” after the music variety television show of the same name, which aired out of Chicago from 1971 through 2006, celebrating R&B, soul, and hip hop music. Attendees, ranging from fellow students, staff, faculty, and community members, wore their decades-best in ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s wear— with disco elements being a very prominent outfit choice overall.
Doors opened for the event at 5:30 pm that Saturday and ran until 8:00 pm. At the door, guests were greeted and directed toward their table— which coordinated with the number on the attendee’s ticket. There were also grab bags that contained little goodies, such as various Croc jibbitz. The ballroom was arranged with groups of circular tables on the left or right side of the room. Each table had eight available seats for attendees and was adorned with black tablecloths and cloth napkins. At the tables, there were other fun items, including glow sticks, light-up shutter-shade glasses and cat-ear headbands, bead necklaces, small disco balls, and even a prop microphone. The middle of the room had a catwalk connected to the ballroom’s stage, leading to a small, partially roped red carpet decorated with balloons.
Upon entering, attendees were given some time to settle in and get into the dancing mood as music filled the ballroom. During this time, guests chatted with their table guests and others at the event. Two photo backdrops were also set up on opposite ends of the ballroom, where many photos were taken of guests throughout the evening.
At 6:00 pm, BSU’s executive board (e-board) welcomed everyone to dinner and reviewed the night's agenda. After this, former BSU president and Geneseo graduate Kayla Stewart gave a brief vocal performance. During this performance, guests clapped along, recorded it, and supported Stewart as she sang for the group.
Around 6:30 pm, tables were called to grab food from the Campus Auxiliary Services (CAS) supplied array of dinner options. Attendees could choose from jambalaya, which also had a vegan alternative, fried chicken, collard greens, candied yams, and/or cornbread. Water, iced tea, and lemonade were also provided for guests to drink. Volunteers and BSU e-board members served guests in their lineup, providing some nice time for friendly small talk while guests acquired their meals. Attendees were also encouraged to self-serve seconds of their meal later into the evening if they so chose.
BSU president, Jay Glass, ushered in the dancing portion once most tables had finished eating. The e-board did an excellent job of jumping onto the dance floor and encouraged event guests to join in the main event of the evening. A little into dance time was a Soul Train (1971-2006) style line dance, which surrounded the room’s central red carpet. Here, attendees were welcomed to strut their stuff down the stage, catwalk, and red carpet either as a solo act or with a friend. During this, other guests lined up on either side of the red carpet and encouraged the attendees brave enough to walk the center stage.
To begin to slow down this upbeat evening, a dessert of red velvet cake and banana pudding was put out, and attendees enjoyed it while the BSU e-board prepared to close out another successful soul food dinner. This was done with a very sweet send-off to the BSU’s two graduating e-board members, Alliance for Community Enrichment (ACE) Representative Jemorie Nsiah and President Jay Glass.
Attendees slowly filtered out while the clean-up process commenced, and that wrapped up this jam-packed and tasty culture club dinner of the semester!